Italy have made three changes for their Six Nations clash with Ireland at te Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday.

Prop Martin Castrogiovanni has failed to recover from the thigh injury he suffered in the 18-11 defeat to England last time out with Lorenzo Cittadini set to pack down at tight-head as a result. Blindside flanker Robert Barbieri is another casualty from the Twickenham match with a hip injury prompting a promotion for Simone Favaro. In the final change, veteran Andrea Lo Cicero is preferred to Alberto De Marchi at loose-head.

Italy are looking for their first win over Ireland in the Six Nations and positive end to a Six Nations campaign that began so well with a shock victory over France. "Against England we gained in confidence, we were able to put something in place," said Favaro. "But we must not forget we lost, even if the performance was satisfactory. Now we have a new battle, and new challenge, that we want to win, as we want to win every time we go onto the pitch.

"That is our spirit. Winning on Saturday is fundamental, we can't judge our tournament before the Ireland game. We can talk of the assessment of the tournament on Sunday."